On the Path of a War Mage
by Finger Fish
Summary: Harry needs to get away from it all this summer but finds himself taken away from it all far sooner than he expected. H's quickly pulled into another world and forced to master new powers and skills just to survive... Post HBP
1. Chapter 1 Accidents do Happen

**On the Path of a War Mage **

**Disclaimer**

Anything you see and you recognise, namley Harry Potter and characters from his world, dont belong to me. Anything you see and don't recognise most likley comes from my rather odd imagination so is belongs to me (poor poor things).

**Summary**

Harry needs to get away from it all this summer but finds himself taken away from it all far sooner than he expected. H's quickly pulled into another world and forced to master new powers and skills just to survive... Post HBP 

**

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**Chapter 1 – Accidents do happen.**

A car was speeding along a deserted stretch of a Surrey A-road; it's dust stained silver sides glinting dully as the occasional streetlight flashed by. Driving the car was something that could only be described as an overweight pig masquerading as a man, his face screwed up in disgust as though something unpleasant resided under his nose. Next to him a pencil thin woman, more stick insect than human, sat with a grimace, resembling that of a dogs behind, firmly fixed on her face. Two boys sat in the back, one looking like an obese beech ball causing the poor car to appear tilted, sinking in his direction. The car would have been at a considerably more impressive angle but by some chance or design he sat diagonally across from what was obviously his father, the family resemblance of an overweight pig startlingly apparent. The second boy definitely didn't fit with the family, he was short, pale and thin, his whole demeanour was one of exhaustion and depression. His messy brown hair in stark contrast to his pale bespectacled face. Apart from the strange lightning bolt scar gracing his forehead, his striking green eyes and his oblivious state he was completely unremarkable. His eyes were sunken and worryingly blank as he stared out of the cold car window into the night-time world.

The car continued on its way, turning off the main road onto a dark unlit lane. The speed of the car seemed to increase as the lanes got darker and began to meander through the previously calm countryside. The atmosphere in the car was one of tense silence broken only by the occasional blip and beep of a gameboy clutched in fat hands. The smell of alcohol wafted around the cabin emanating from the irate driver clutching the steering wheel with large white knuckled hands.

"Vernon, your going to fast!" the stick like woman snapped. Her stark straight-backed stance unchanging despite her obvious discomfort, her bony hands crossed neatly in her lap grasping each other tightly.

"Of course I'm going fast I want to get home and away from the freak before any of his freak friends decide to follow us." Vernon slurred back, he had hit the station pub for a full 4 hours before agreeing to get in the car with 'the freak' in question. Meanwhile that 'freak' sat, seemingly oblivious to everything, staring into the pitch-black darkness of the world beyond the car.

Then the inevitable happened; in his argument with his wife Vernon's attention had wandered from the road, their was a bump as the car passed over the central white line and its raised cat-eyes. Snatching his attention back to the task in hand he realised the car was heading straight for an imposing hedge. He reacted immediately yanking the steering wheel to the left, desperately hoping to avoid the oncoming collision. Dudley Dursley, his son, made a strangled squeak as the gameboy fell to the floor. The squeak turned into a panicked yelp as the previously ignorant boy realised the situation and all present felt the car start to loose grip. Petunia Dursley, his wife, went ghostly white and even more stick like, her hands clutching the side of her seat in a death grip, every muscle in her body clenched in fear.

Harry Potter, unwanted nephew and freak, snapped his head round and opened his eyes wider as he heard the tyres squeal, desperately trying to grip the road but failing. He knew they were going to crash, all he could think was that this would surprise people, Harry Potter dying by an accident and not by the hand of some evil maniac. His side of the car passed through the bush, the glass of his window shattering from the force but holding together and thankfully not flying inwards. His head hit the side of the car hard and he felt the muscles in his neck scream in protest as it swung back throwing his body away from the car wall. Then he saw the tree, through the crazed safety glass, tall and imposing, its trunk broad and steady. The world slowed down further as the car spun some more and his now overactive adrenal gland worked harder. His aunt and cousin were now closest to the tree and Harry was furthest from it, but he could see it approaching rapidly as any semblance of grip was lost in the muddy grass. He could hear screaming, he thought it wasn't his own. All eyes were fixed on the tree as the seconds dragged like hours and the distance inched closer.

The sudden deceleration hit him first, then something warm but hard, slamming into his face; it was strangely gripping and smooth, pushing at his face, his whole body. His only thoughts were 'this is it'.

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**_A/N_**

_Please excuse the length of this Chapter, I would have liked it to be longer but it's more a prequel than anything else. From my experience of car crashes they're over so quickly despite time going slowly (I'm sure that makes perfect sense lol) that there's not much more to add so it makes more sense to have it this short. Plus there's the bonus of a cliff-hanger of sorts though it's too early to concern you too much I'm guessing._

_Hope you like the story, I'm going to get a fair few chapters written before I post so when I do I should update fairly regularly. I'm open to any volunteers for Beta'ing as I know my grammar isn't very good. I do make a point of going over anything I've written a few times to make sure it makes sense but I always pick up on something the next time I read it so I'm definitely not infallible._

**_Finger Fish_**


	2. Chapter 2 Choices

**On the Path of a War Mage **

**Disclaimer**

Anything you see and you recognise, namley Harry Potter and characters from his world, dont belong to me. Anything you see and don't recognise most likley comes from my rather odd imagination so is belongs to me (poor poor things).

**Summary**

Harry needs to get away from it all this summer but finds himself taken away from it all far sooner than he expected. H's quickly pulled into another world and forced to master new powers and skills just to survive... Post HBP 

**

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Chapter 2 – Choices**

His whole body screamed in protest at the imagined impact but then warm unyielding surface seemed to stretch, elastically expanding, taking the acceleration, carefully cradling him in its strange embrace. He slowed then stopped and reversed, the surface contracting until it returned to the flat original. It was white, pure simple glaring white; it most definitely wasn't a tree. In fact, as he saw when he rolled onto his back, he most definitely wasn't in a car anymore. He was in a room, well not exactly a room as it was assuredly not typical room shaped. He lay inside a pure white sphere, his comfortable position due to the gently curving sides. The room was elegant in its simplicity, no door or window marred its perfection, it was quite unnerving. He wondered if he were dead, it was likely, with the car crash and all, but why did everything still hurt.

A voice suddenly echoed through his strange room. Ominous and powerful it uttered;

"_Chosen one, stolen from your death_

_Taken to the in-between, the world within worlds_

_You are here to learn, your destiny awaits_

_Only the pure can enter, only the dead can leave_

_You must choose between return and learning, death and life_

_You will be tied to us, you will be marked, you will be ours_

_Or you shall be returned, lost forever, futureless, dead_

_Make Your Choice."_

As the voice spoke the light in the room seemed pulse, the spherical wall glowing in tune with the voice, the light bright but not blinding. The words uttered appeared, fleeting but certain on the walls, many of them darting around him, over his head underneath him. Then the words stopped, frozen in place, stark and black, cacooning him they stood repeated over and over in a frantic puzzle, firmly etching themselves in his mind. The room seemed to pause, the light remaining constant, power emanating from its wall as it awaited his choice. Thoughts darted through Harry's head each more urgent than the next, was this a trap, was this Voldemort, was this death. Then a thought, he couldn't die, if he did no one else could kill Voldemort, the Dark Lord would have won, the prophecy stated that. He couldn't afford to die even if this was a trap he had no choice, the words had rung true in his head, he knew that the owner of the mysterious voice could return him to his death.

Set in his mind but very apprehensive he answered, his voice wavering slightly but clear.

"I choose to live"

At first nothing happened, but then Harry noticed the light level in the room was increasing. The wall was glowing brighter and brighter, it was beginning to hurt. He tightly clenched his eyes but was soon forced to put his hands over them. Eventually when he was sure he would be permanently blinded the light flashed back to a comfortable level. He opened his eyes, blinking several times in an effort to get rid of the blurriness and realised to his surprise nothing hurt anymore, thoughts of his miraculous recovery were swept aside as he suddenly noticed he was naked. He moved faster than he had ever done before, sitting up and scooting backwards while clutching his knees to his chest to protect what was left of his modesty.

That's when he saw it, the strange mark decorating his chest, centred over his heart. It pulsed with light, strange ethereal light, flaring in time with his heartbeat. The light dimmed and the pulsing receded leaving the mark gleaming metallic silver. Unwrapping a hand from his legs he cautiously poked the strange mark, it felt cool, smooth, metallic, completely unlike his skin. This was definitely not good. He examined it closer trying to decipher its purpose and meaning, the thought of how Voldemort marked his deatheaters strong in his mind. It was a simple sun, made up of swirls and lines it radiated out, stretching halfway across his chest. There seemed to be space for more detail, gaps in the suns rays that needed filling. In the centre of the sun there was an eye, again made up of swirls and lines in the same strange metal of the sun. The peculiar thing was despite the fact the metal wasn't skin anymore he could feel his finger touching, tracing it, but it didn't hurt… Yet… and for that he was grateful.

A cough suddenly broke the tentative silence of the room. Harry's head snapped up and he automatically sprung to a half-crouched position. Realising this exposed bits he wasn't keen on showing he hastily wrapped his arms around himself, totally ruining his defensive stance. Feeling his cheeks burning he looked up at the other occupant of the room.

He was looking at what was possibly the strangest person he'd ever seen, that is if it was even a person, it looked more like a part tiger part human. It had strangely warm russet brown skin decorated with stripes in a darker brown. The beings hair was a tousled mess springing out from his head in short waves matching his skin tone exactly, stripes and all. It's nose was shorter and broader than normal set on a broad face with widely spaced eyes with strangely pointed ears sitting far higher than normal. It wore loose fitting trousers in an assortment of earthy browns and a white waistcoat hanging open to show a bare chest, paler brown than his face and hands but bearing a familiar tattoo. It wasn't the same as Harry's; it had the same basic shape but seemed to have more symbols spreading out to decorate the muscular chest.

The strange thing suddenly spoke, an outlandish reverberating sound, somewhere between a cats purr and a human voice but distinctively male. "You have chosen, and now you must follow me, I will present you to the council." He said solemnly, his lazy lip movements not fitting the words he spoke. Harry quickly shifted into a more defensive stance whilst trying to cover himself up as much as possible. His shoulders hunched and he shuffled slightly away from the weird creature in front of him. This action seemed to amuse it and soon the spherical walls were reverberating with strange coughing sounds, which Harry instinctively knew was laughter. The tiger-like face scrunched up, tight little creases radiating outwards following its stripes.

"I had heard the new ones are always a little jumpy. Are you scared of me little one, I assure you I am not so hungry as to eat you, though if the stories are to be believed I may try!" The gruttel voice chuckled kindly, the creatures amber eyes meeting Harry's anxious green. "My name is Kyara, I am a Tren from Kelldor, I can guess you are one of Merlin's blood though we get so few of them they are hard to pick out."

Harry smiled cautiously glad he could finally understand and answer something "My name is Harry, I'm a human, like Merlin, I wouldn't say I've got his blood, well I suppose its possible but I don't know about it." He would have continued but his head was crammed with questions and he was still strikingly conscious of his less than ideal situation.

"If you come from Merlin's Land and you have been 'Chosen' then you are of his blood. It has not been long since my own 'Choosing' but I have learnt that your Land is split to those who have The Blood and those who do not. But let us stop these idle words, we are being waited on as we speak and it does not do to annoy those who are to be your masters." Kyara stated his previously jovial face growing serious.

Harry froze at this, the word 'Maters' echoing round his head, he knew he was agreeing to something like this but not the depth of it. He hugged his knees tighter in desperation, looking back at the tiger-man he prepared to ask the inevitable questions.

Kyara sensing this swiftly added "I know this is not what you wish to hear but we must go now, I will answer what I can as we go and more will be explained when you meet your mentor later." Then with a sharp twist of playfulness he continued on to say "plus we will be getting you some clothing should you prefer it that way."

Harry's tentative smile deepened at this, he couldn't help but like the friendly character in front of him. He wasn't sure why but following suddenly seemed a good idea. His appreciation of Kyara only increased when the tiger-man turned his back so Harry could dash behind him glowing red in his embarrassment. He mused it was funny that in all this strange turn of events he was more concerned with his lack of clothes than his impending fate.

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**_A/N_**

_Hope you like the funky room, its just my overactive imagination getting carried away while I'm stuck in a very boring office looking at my computer and a load of blinds/welding bays. I'll paint/draw it one day (the world not the welding bays lol) I'm sure, as the picture in my head of it and the continuing rooms, would make a really 'interesting' picture._

_Anyway on with the story, oh just thought I'd add that I'm writing these A/N's as I go so you should get an idea of what's going through my head at the time I'm writing. I'll probably add more random comments as I go along, hopefully they won't annoy you too much. Enjoy_

**_Finger Fish_**


	3. Chapter 3 Questions and a few answers

**On the Path of a War Mage  
**

**Disclaimer**

Anything you see and you recognise, namley Harry Potter and characters from his world, dont belong to me. Anything you see and don't recognise most likley comes from my rather odd imagination so is belongs to me (poor poor things).

**Summary**

Harry needs to get away from it all this summer but finds himself taken away from it all far sooner than he expected. H's quickly pulled into another world and forced to master new powers and skills just to survive... Post HBP

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**Chapter 3 – Questions and a few answers**

Harry followed the tiger-man too the wall, his focus on the hypnotic swaying tail broken by a door opening in the wall. Opening was an unfit description it was more like a tiny pinprick in the wall stretching open into a large hole, the edges of the opening where slightly translucent in the same way as when you stretch a plastic bag to its braking point. Kyara smoothly stepped through the opening in the wall and into a cylindrical white passageway beyond. As Harry followed he noticed each step he took the floor rose up to meet him giving him level instead of curved ground to step on. He hesitated, raising a foot and lowering it slowly, watching as the pearly floor rose fluidly up to his bare sole. He poked it with his toe, surprised to feel the surface smooth, solid and slightly warm, he poked harder and was further surprised when the surface gave slightly.

A sharp but amused cough broke his experimentation. Quickly putting his foot down he looked up to see the Tren's amused face, one dark eyebrow slightly razed mirrored by a half smirk of the lips. Harry sheepishly looked down, caught like a child with his hand in the cookie jar and began glowing. Kyara turned his back on the blushing boy and returned to leading the way but as Harry obediently followed he could distinctly hear the sharp cough of laughter.

After continuing down the strangely lit corridor (Harry decided it was classified as strange when beneath you was giving off as much light as above) they stopped in front of what seemed like a nondescript piece of wall. Kyara placed his hand on the wall and as he removed it, just as before, an oval door hole grew. They stepped into another spherical room, a little bigger than before but the same hue and texture. Small spheres lay scattered over the floor of the room like a mess of oddly shaped scatter cushions. As they stood there a sphere around the height of a small dog rolled towards them. Kyara gracefully bent down to pick it up, cradling it to his broad chest carefully.

He placed his free hand gently on the surface and his brow creased in concentration then as if he had come to some sort of conclusion he reached out offering the sphere to Harry. "Here" the Tren said, "It seems to be the right size, you should be honoured Morgana doesn't usually pick out the new ones clothing. She must like you!"

Harry took the sphere; it felt warm, smooth and slightly soft, not unlike the strange walls all about him. He couldn't help but wonder how he was meant to get his clothes from it. He carefully turned it round, looking for some hatch or clue as to how to get it open, finally giving up he looked questioningly at the grinning face in front of him.

"Put your hand on top and think 'open', in fact since your new to this just say it." Said Kyara obviously restraining his humour for the boy in front of him.

Harry carefully followed the instructions and as he spoke the command he felt the sphere change. It grew thinner and seemed to split, opening out like a flower. Inside the flower like object where neatly folded wads of cloth in pure white. He took them out and placed the now empty sphere-flower onto the floor where it was immediately absorbed until no sign of it remained. Harry was impressed but delayed his inevitable questions until he was fully clothed. Unfolding the tiny wads he soon discovered they were in fact fully sized cloths, they also miraculously didn't hold any creases despite they're packaging. Very soon he was feeling much better if a little white. He was decked out in white shorts somewhat like boxers, loose fitting white trousers and a white waistcoat very like his new acquaintance. The material was the softest Harry had ever felt, it was lovely and so well fitted, not that that was surprising given his normal wear of Dudley's hand-me-downs.

That thought suddenly brought home the truth; he wasn't the only one in that car crash and the others were closer to the tree. He felt inside him the certainty they were dead, everyone was dead, it seemed inevitable, anyone he cared about died. Maybe it wasn't so bad that he had come here; now no one else would have to die because of him. With this exultant thought he turned and followed the Tren who led him quietly out of the room sensing his soured mood.

They were back to travelling down the corridors. Harry barely paid attention to the how the floor altered to help him walk. His questioning mind, depressed though it was, soon began to challenge his silent walk. Giving in to the inevitable he looked up to Kyara and asked, "Where are we going?"

The Tren carried on walking but answered smoothly "We go to your presentation where you will meet those you are to learn under and obey, do not be displeasing them, that would be causing problems later. You will meet your mentor afterwards who will guide you through the process until you are fit to take the tests."

Harry's brow creased, what tests and what would he learn? He opened his mouth to ask the inevitable questions but shut it quickly again as Kyara stopped in front of a dead end. One furry finger with vicious looking nail/claw pressed to the black lips as the tiger-man stepped back, beckoning with a second claw for Harry to pass and proceed.

Harry stepped past looking questioningly at the Tren who smiled reassuringly. Guessing what he was to do next he pressed his hand into the firm yet slightly yielding surface and waited. Nothing happened. He turned his head to face Kyara only to find a great smile splitting his feline face. Annoyed and determined to prove that he wasn't useless he turned back to the wall and concentrated hard on how to get it to open, pushing his hand harder into it with his frustration.

Suddenly he felt the wall grow warm under his arm and begin to thin. Before he could stop himself he fell right through stumbling into the room beyond cursing himself for not remembering the clothes spheres earlier. Stabilising himself and resisting the urge to punch the blatantly smirking Tren he looked around only to be totally mortified as he realised just how many people/things were staring at him. He felt the burning hot glow of his annoying blush and begged the ground to swallow him up as he stepped more fully into the room towards a beckoning figure.

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_**A/N**_

_Now's when you see my imagination get slightly carried away (as if it hasn't anyway). I'm trying to create a kind of alternative but theoretically scientifically possible world, it's fun, which proves I'm bored and work isn't exactly challenging at the moment. Anyone with any ideas on this or different types of magic can either review or email me them and I'll see about them being squeezed in the story (easy to say now as I'm only 3 chapters in but the plan is to add lots of different types of magic and train Harry in them then… Well that might be giving away the plot, not that its exactly fully formed yet, must try to plan things more than just ideas floating in my head._

_Sorry waffle over now, I'm bored at work and thought I'd share it with you, pass on the misery, moving to a different department soon and bet I don't have as much time to write then so may have to be good (and normal) and do it at home._

_Good Reading_

_**Finger Fish**_


	4. Chapter 4 The Ceramony

**On the Path of a War Mage **

**Disclaimer**

Anything you see and you recognise, namley Harry Potter and characters from his world, dont belong to me. Anything you see and don't recognise most likley comes from my rather odd imagination so is belongs to me (poor poor things).

**Summary**

Harry needs to get away from it all this summer but finds himself taken away from it all far sooner than he expected. H's quickly pulled into another world and forced to master new powers and skills just to survive... Post HBP

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**Chapter 4 – The Ceremony**

As he walked forward Harry stared around the great room, it was around twice as big as the great hall in Hogwarts but again, seeming less and less strange now, spherical glowing white. Rows of seat lined the walls, ridges circumventing the spherical wall, the raising gradient creating a natural amphitheatre. All types of humanoid creatures decorating those benches with a variety of colours, shapes and sizes many wearing similar clothes to Harry but none in white. Many whispers darted around the room, some giggles and laughter for his earlier trip, some sat solemnly silent, glancing with stern expressions at their noisy neighbours.

In the centre of the sphere a regal man stood, dressed in baggy loose trousers tapering at the ankles and a long flowing sleeveless robe open at the front showing the marks decorating his chest. These were far more complex than Harry's or Kyara's and detailed in a pattern of many different hues from red to yellowy gold. He was vaguely human like, at least more so than Kyara. He had dark blue skin and long silvery hair worn loose framing his shoulders and falling down his back revealing sharply pointed ears immediately making Harry think of mythological elves. His eyes were larger than normal and a strange amber colour, reminding Harry of cat's eyes. He was around the same height as Harry but looked far older despite his totally hairless face, small creases marred the near flawless skin giving away that age.

Harry moved towards the man as beckoned until he stood opposite. The dark skinned man looked straight at him, eyes burning, Harry could practically feel the power radiating from them. Harry quickly dropped to one knee, not knowing exactly what he was meant to do but he understood that this man was obviously in charge and remembered Kyara's warning that is wasn't a good idea to annoy his future masters.

The man looked at him with slight interest tinged with disdain. He spoke with a lilting and melodic accent, quietly but powerful enough to reach into the far corners of the room bringing absolute silence.

"I am Brayenal, High Elder of the Order of Orobis. You are Chosen, bound to serve honour and obey the Orobis and its Elders. You hold the fabric of the Trinity in your hands and you must strive to defend it until the Uniting is upon us." He paused, eyes fixed on Harry who was meeting his gaze with a rather confused look. "What is your name Chosen?" He finished simply.

Startled slightly by this change of tack he stuttered a little before coming out with "Harry Potter Sir"

Brayenal looked up and around at the various humanoids gather around "The Chosen Harry Potter of the race of Merlin is presented to you. Guide him well in his journey and teach him the ways of The Orobis." The blue skinned elf like man stepped to one side and indicated that Harry should proceed down the corridor to his left between two of the four stands. "Go to your destiny Chosen."

Harry quickly walked in the direction shown, eager to leave the stares of the audience. As he left he could hear whispers began to dart around the auditorium sphere despite several obvious 'Shhhhs' that echoed in their wake. Finally he reached the wall and planted his hand on it whispering open and hoping. The wall opened for him and he stepped through breathing and audible sigh of relief as the wall shut behind him, whatever that was at least it was over.

Looking around he realised that now he had another problem. He was stuck in the middle of a rather twisty tube-like corridor with no idea where to go. Well at least it only had two possible directions and he wasn't going back in there to ask for help, no way. Striking out whilst attempting to feel less lost than he really was he rounded a bend and found to his horror a branch. He stood there at complete loss with what to do, starting to feel just a little angry with all of this. After a couple minutes, which seemed to stretch into eternity, of staring at the offending tunnels he was getting really angry and contemplating screaming at someone, if someone happened to be there, but they weren't and that wasn't helping the situation. Huffing in annoyance and just a little bit of helplessness he picked a tunnel at random, stepping towards it he suddenly heard the sound of muffled running feet and a figure shot round a corner of the other tube.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief as the stress and anger he felt left him for now. The slightly dishevelled figure proved to be Kyara who promptly grinned at Harry as he came to a stop panting slightly.

"Apologies for delaying you Chosen Harry but they do make the route complicated if you can not be going through the Great Hall. Plus I think Morgana felt like playing with me today, the corridors were not so long last time I did run them." He smiled brilliantly and added " If you be following me we'll see about getting you some more answers from your mentor and then perhaps a bed. Me thinks you will be needing your sleep tonight, after my own choosing I could have slept for a moon."

Harry followed the Tren down the corridor he had been about to head down. Unable to restrain his questions he gave up and narrowed it down to a few, who was to know if this mentor person would answer anything he asked.

"Who's Morgana?" he requested restraining himself to one question at a time despite how many he had. He suddenly realised he was beginning to get as bad as Hermione and wondered if Ron would ever forgive him for that. His mood took a dip at the thought of his friends as he wondered if he'd ever see them again.

"Morgana is all around us, she is this tunnel we be walking down and the room we were in. She be our home in this place but she is not being like the homes we are used to. She be alive and that I know for sure, she thinks and moves but does not do things like we do. She feeds a little on our magic, not enough for us to be missing it, and we protect her so she be giving us shelter and a home." Kyara stated confusing Harry further. The tiger man shrugged and continued "I know it be too much to understand at this time but it will come and things will be making more sense. I am thinking that your mentor will be wanting me to be your guide until your acceptance so there be plenty more time for questions later."

They continued down the corridor following a random series of twists, turns and splits Harry trying to figure out this Morgana thing. The 'building' was definitely organic, the way it moved and felt, the curves and tubes, all adding to that impression. It moved and changed and seemed to have moods, if what the Tren said was right, so it would make sense that it was alive. Whether or not she was alive she was incredibly beautiful in a strange way. He felt the walls exude warmth at the thought and an almost motherly feeling embraced him.

"What did you think that made Morganna so happy?" Kyara asked as he suddenly stopped.

Harry blushed "Well I kinda thought she was beautiful, why did you feel that too?" he asked.

"You have only been here for a short while and have won Morgana's heart, I am seeing why we only have the occasional Merlin's blood, any more and they're would be trouble. I did not feel anything but we be arriving at our destination much earlier than I be thinking. It is not a bad thing to impress Morganna so much so soon, she is a true protector to those she likes." The Tren summarised placing his hand on the wall. A short tunnel appeared through the doorway and a smooth wall in front. Harry stepped forward nervously as Kyara indicated he should go on alone. The wall hole shut and Harry picked his way forward wondering what awaited him this time sure that whatever it was it was going to be a surprise.

Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw as the wall opened in front of him…

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_**A/N**_

_Wahoo, another chapter done, took me a fair bit longer to write than the others as I realised I really needed to plan out how things worked/magic. I've now got a highly exciting note book (the back of my work note book to be exact) filled with squiggles and sketches and random words. If this takes off and I do my own website I'll have to scan some pages in for people to laugh at, may have to pick some of the more legible ones as my handwriting, especially when I'm coming up with ideas, really sucks._

_Hmm so far I still like this story though Harry is being a bit of a wuss at the moment (for those of you not British or not familiar with the term it basically means coward). But it seemed to write that way and I figure he'd still be pretty shell shocked by the whole thing and not get too uppity yet. I'm sure angry/defiant Harry will appear later but it'll take time. Don't expect to see too much of incredibly depressed/sorry for himself Harry. Though this is probably how he'd be after Dumbledore's and his godfather's death I really cant stand too much depression, it depresses me and as I'm writing this as something to cheer me up at work its got to have mildly happy undertones._

**_Finger Fish _**


	5. Chapter 5 Merlin!

**On the Path of a War Mage **

**Disclaimer**

Anything you see and you recognise, namley Harry Potter and characters from his world, dont belong to me. Anything you see and don't recognise most likley comes from my rather odd imagination so is belongs to me (poor poor things).

**Summary**

Harry needs to get away from it all this summer but finds himself taken away from it all far sooner than he expected. H's quickly pulled into another world and forced to master new powers and skills just to survive... Post HBP

* * *

**Chapter 5 – "Merlin!"**

Harry stood, mouth hanging open, eyes fixed with a slightly wild gaze, frozen as he stared ahead. The object of his fascination stood before him complete with silvery white beard, wizened crinkled face and the strangest eyes imaginable. The man before him bore an exact resemblance to the portraits scattering Hogwarts of the father of modern wizardry and magic, the great Merlin himself. A small part of Harry's brain told him it was impossible that the person in front of him was Merlin, as he should have died long ago. Another part of his brain began giggling uncontrollably at this thought as everything else in this place seemed impossible but it was definitely happening. Not for the first time Harry hoped it was a strange dream he would wake up for anytime now.

Before Harry's rapidly escalating thoughts could spiral any further out of control the could-be-Merlin? Broke them by coughing lightly.

"Good day my child, perhaps you could step this way and we could have a cup of tea and a chat before Accepted Kyara introduces you to your room." The strangely feral eyes glinted dangerously but the smile seemed genuine.

Harry cautiously stepped forward through the doorway and into the oddest room he had seen so far. Well it wasn't that it was odd exactly. It had four walls, a floor and a ceiling, complete with a cushioned throne like chair and a distinctly Victorian sofa. Pictures were hung on the faintly glowing wall depicting various styles and eras of landscape and soft rush mats lined the floor. A heavily carved dark wood desk stood in the far corner with a strikingly modern swivel chair and a small protrusion from the wall acting like an angled light. It was in a way the most normal room he had seen so far, excluding the eccentric mishmash of dates, which is why it was the strangest, it had corners for Merlin's-sake, albeit slightly rounded ones.

The could-be-Merlin beckoned for him to sit in the comfy looking sofa. Lowering himself onto the studded green leather he found was unfortunately incredibly hard, shuffling slightly he managed to get an opulent silk cushion behind his back and sunk in happily. The other man settled himself on the throne like chair and put his feet up on a sudden bulge from the floor complete with rush matting.

"Well my child, first things first, yes indeed my name is Merlin and I am who you would associate with that name. I assure you I am most definitely alive and you are most definitely not dreaming. Hmm that should answer some of your questions for the beginning." The wizened man said briskly while Harry's mouth flapped open and closed somewhat like a gold fish.

"Bbbut… I mean… well…" was all the confused teenager could manage.

"Now then child this is obviously very confusing, I don't blame you for finding this hard. I myself have taken many a long age to begin to pick apart the mysteries of this order. I will explain only the basics because I know that you will remember very little from this meeting. Alas it is the untrained minds great weakness to protect itself by leaking knowledge. Now I will endeavour to begin my tail at the beginning which is a true gift as few mentors know so much as I do." He continued, pausing slightly staring fixedly at Harry with his unnerving eyes.

Harry nodded slightly at the old mans enquiring glance hoping that was what was required as he leaned back, thinking this was definitely a most confusing dream. Or he was dead, could you dream when your dead? Still he was interested in spite of the confusion, at least if he heard the man out he'd have a better idea just how random his subconscious mind was

"A long time ago when the world was much younger and not as we know it now a young woman strode the path to become a mage. Back then there were no schools as such only a master to teach and an apprentice to learn. These then belonged themselves to one of the great colleges of magic, which ruled the Divided Lands. They would only teach those deemed of sufficient magical gift or from families of great political power and so many young gifted missed out on reaching they're full potential and so often lost themselves or even worse, turned rouge."

"This college system was not a good place to develop young minds with its politics and mind games and powerful students of poor background often felt the brunt of this. The young woman who began our story was one such of these and unique in history as having blood from all of the divided lands and its peoples and so all their powers. She was fought over by the colleges and so, of all and none, she broke free and became a rouge."

"Meanwhile a king of the time, who was but a weak mage but with royal bloodline and so political power, sought to usurp the college control believing blood rather than power justified control. Soon many of those considered weak in power flocked together seeking a future for themselves in a world ruled by those greater in might. Many of the rouges flocked to his banner, some in lust for power and some in hope for a better future. This created a full scale war which threatened to tear the Divided Lands apart with each of the three warring within itself and with the others and everyone forced to choose sides."

"One mage stood apart though, the Lady I spoke of first. She saw the corruption gripping hold of the Divided Lands and saw the truth of it. Power is a deadly thing and must be used with great care less you seek for more of it than you can hold. She fought to stop this war and gathered about herself those she saved from certain death. She gave those souls a choice – to fight with her to stop this folly or to continue and inevitably die. Many chose to continue, seeing no end to the chaos and gripped in the tide of bloodshed, but some, like me and my comrades, choose to stand by her side and fight. Thus the Order of Orobis was founded."

"Eventually the Order was left with only one choice; to truly divide the Divided Lands. It was an amazing feat of magic, the like of which I have never seen before or since, but it left the world torn asunder, divided into 3 worlds each guarded by The Sun which traversed the dimensions separating each. There we have made our home forever guarding the Divided Lands and endeavouring to prevent their destruction."

Harry who had been quietly sitting, entranced by the story unfolded by the wizened man was jolted back into reality with the last statement.

"You mean we're on the sun, you've got to be joking, wouldn't we be burnt to death?" His voice rang out against the sudden stillness of the room and the eyes of his mentor. The Great Merlin was obviously not used to being interrupted by a mere child. With a deadly glare spoiled only by the slight tugging at the corner of his mouth the legendary wizard continued.

"We make our home inside the sun, it's hot rays guarding us against physical attack, which so far only our world and those astounding muggle scientists has threatened to achieve. Inside the sun we live in this beast that floats near the surface, drawing light and warmth from its rays to sustain us. Morganna she is, this beast we call home, named by me after a woman I once loved but lost. She is dear to us all and though we venture far and wide in pursuit of this task of guardianship we will always return to her embrace." At these worlds the walls pulsed steadily with warmth. Harry could clearly feel that Morganna loved the old man.

Merlin seemed to content to pause his story there, waiting for the questions queuing in Harry's head. After allowing the old man half a minute to continue if he wanted Harry started going through his list hopefully.

"How come your still alive then, are the other founders still alive, and this lady you speak of, is she here too?" Harry asked feeling proud of himself for limiting his rush to small groups.

Merlin glanced over a large curly pipe that had seemingly appeared from nowhere in the course of Harry's asking. Blowing a rather impressive stream of purple smoke that danced a merry jig around the cluttered room he answered with a slow sad voice.

"I am still alive as my Mistress chose me among my peers to become the Guide to the Order. When we were but newly formed she saw the need to extend its guardianship far into the future. She knew that though the battle was won this time it was the result of that freedom that the peoples of the Divided Lands would ever seek to grow in strength and prowess. They would also seek knowledge held in other worlds to rejoin and gain powers over all. Seeing this she bound herself and the power of the other founders into the Orbus stone giving it the ability to discern those areas where danger threatened and those who could fight should they make the choice. Sacrificing themselves to give the order the power to continue the fight for the Divided lands and leaving me here to guide the new recruits."

With this Harry seized onto a question he'd been holding close for a while. "What about Voldemort, will you deal with him?" He asked hopefully.

The old man tuned to him quizzically, one furry caterpillar of an eyebrow raised high, "who is this Voldemort, we have had few forays into earth's atmosphere for many long years. The last apprentice gained from there spoke of a terror known as Grindelwald who was recently defeated leaving all at peace. Alas I hear little of my home world, though occasionally student who are fond of me liberate me some reminder of my home-world." He ended dreamily staring round the room the twinkle in his eyes dimming slightly.

"Voldemort is a dark wizard that's terrorising earth, he's trying to take over and…" he hesitated drawing in a shuddering breath forcing down the feelings surging out of control, urgency straining his features, "…he's killed loads of people, important people..." the pause hung dead in the air as he resisted adding 'my people'. "I don't think we'll make it this time." He finished, drawing long deep breaths to compose himself, forcing his mind from those dangerous waters.

Merlin's impressive eyebrows scrunched together as a look of concern flitted across his face, calming it quickly his face returned to its normal slightly mischievous look. "Fear not young man, should this problem escalate it is sure to be noted by Orobis quickly enough. I am sorry for the loss of those you cared for." He added his eyes, for once, dulled with sadness.

"But you don't understand…" Harry said pushing himself to his feet, "I'm the one that's got to do it, it's in the prophecy, its me or him." Then suddenly realisation crashed down on Harry, he should have said no, only Voldemort could kill him. He'd doomed his world and sold himself to this 'order'. He suddenly hoped against hope that this was a dream, though, with the frustrating certainty of an oncoming freight train, he was beginning to believe it wasn't.

Merlin's feline eyes met his with curiosity, sorrow and a little bit of empathy. "There is nothing you or I can do young one, you have chosen and that is the way it must be. Perhaps this prophecy will be fulfilled at a later date when you are trained up in our ways. Perhaps that is how it is meant to be. Though I find it strange, this prophecy you speak of, prophecy is one of our methods of controlling a problem and comes directly from the Orobis itself. It is odd that the prophecy was issued but no warning came from the Searchers. Fear not, I will pursue this child. Now I think it would be best to get you to your room and to sleep."

Harry stared at the old man who at present reminded him painfully of Dumbledore and nodded his acceptance, willing back the 1001 other questions fuelled by his anger and helplessness. The old man was not to blame after all, someone was, he wasn't sure who but he'd find out and then get angry. Besides as he felt his frustration recede it was replaced by a wave of exhaustion, he hadn't really had time to rest since the funeral… since that fateful night really, now he just wanted to collapse.

Merlin ushered Harry towards where Harry guessed the doorway was. The old mans eye's suddenly hardened as though remembering some distant thought.

"I should probably warn you boy that should you speak to any instructor in the tone of voice you used earlier things will not be well with you. This is a place of ancient cultures and disciplines and certain standards are expected. As I am your mentor, this happened in private and it is your first day this will be excused. But understand this, I am being lenient, perhaps against my better judgement, you have been through much too young, draw on this experience and be strong and you will gain much. I will speak to you again." With that Merlin gently pushed him out of the room and left him in the exit corridor.

Waking forward slowly feeling colder than eh had a moment before he opened the door thinking to himself maybe he was getting the hang of this. Relief flushed over him as he was met by Kyara's grinning face.

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_**A/N **_

_Another chapter done finally and my longest so far too. Probably took me the longest to write too, still having finally finished I've got a few more ideas of potential twists later, hopefully they're not too obvious. I have still have got to fully work into the balance the happenings of HBP but it should make the story slightly more interesting particularly when I figure out just what to do with Snape and Draco…_

**_Finger Fish_**


	6. Chapter 6 Meeting the Chosen

**On the Path of a War Mage **

**Disclaimer**

Anything you see and you recognise, namley Harry Potter and characters from his world, dont belong to me. Anything you see and don't recognise most likley comes from my rather odd imagination so is belongs to me (poor poor things).

**Summary**

Harry needs to get away from it all this summer but finds himself taken away from it all far sooner than he expected. H's quickly pulled into another world and forced to master new powers and skills just to survive... Post HBP

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**Chapter 6 - Meeting the Chosen**

A soft light woke Harry growing until it reached the level of daylight. Not one to linger in bed having never been given the opportunity to in his early life he opened his eyes and rolled out. Spherical glowing walls greeted him and he nearly fell off his shelf in shock as the memories of the night before poured back in. He was still here, it hadn't been a dream. Or he was in a coma from the crash and still dreaming.

Whichever it was he decided to get on with it and face whatever the day threw at him, for once he'd had a strangely peaceful nights sleep and he felt remarkably good for it. In fact his dreams had been empty of the usual spectres and ghosts, instead filled with happy childish things he couldn't really remember. Maybe Voldemort couldn't reach him hear. Maybe things weren't so bad after all.

He looked for the clothes he's discarded on the floor the night before only to find they'd disappeared. Joy, did they expect him to run around in shorts, or worse, nothing. Merlin's words of the night before '…ancient cultures and disciplines...' rang ominously in his ears. He supposed he could always make a tasteful toga out of his thin blanket. He didn't really need it to sleep anyway, the room was the perfect temperature, Morgana was definitely efficient.

On that thought he remembered where he got his first clothes from and said tentatively "Morgana, could I have some clothes please". A bulge on the wall suddenly shimmered and he reached out to touch it thinking strongly 'open'. Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly considering it had worked before, it did what he asked and he found a set of neat clothes folded in a pile and to his delight his wand lying on top.

Popping the new set of clothes on and tucking his wand into his belt he held his worn shorts not quite knowing what to do. Oddly enough he didn't think laundry worked normally around here. Experimentally he tried putting them into the wall bulge/cupboard and was surprised when it promptly closed up and disappeared in a swallowing motion. Uttering a nervous "Thank you" and sitting back on his bed shelf which had risen to a more comfortable sitting height he wondered what was going to happen next.

A few minutes later he heard a knock on the door, with a nervous 'come in' he stood up and moved towards the door. It opened revealing the Tren he was almost considering his friend, he was frankly desperate for anything familiar at that point. Moving towards the cheerful face he felt his stomach let loose an almighty growl. This caused Kyara's face to stretch into an even wider grin as the Tren's stomach echoed the grumble.

"You sound as I feel Harry, I swear I could eat a Grroma. What say I show you to our feast. Its best to get some food in you before I introduce you to your masters." The brawny Tren chuckled as he led the way, oblivious to Harry's flinch.

Harry hesitated momentarily before following. He'd learnt how to adapt, how to survive in his life, and though things were far from perfect he knew he'd be better off getting on with it rather than just freezing.

"What will I be learning and what are these masters like?" He asked stoically.

"You'll be learning all manner of things, though to be starting with Merlin's picked out a few classes he thinks you'll suit. You've got Training every morning before food, though that be nothing odd as everyone's having that. Then you be getting an introduction to the Divided Lands, yer lucky you be getting here this week, half a pass later and you'd have had to wait 3 for the new class to start. That be taught by Master Frin, he be of the Corrin race and be much fun, far better than my teacher, he was being an old goat." At this Kyara burst into laughter clutching the nearest wall for support at his own joke. Harry was completely lost at this and decided that it must be a Tren joke. The Tiger man finally managed to reduce his hysterics into mere twitches and pushed himself back upright. Looking back at the confused human set him off again and Harry got nothing from him for the rest of the noisy and tad annoying journey.

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By the time they reached what Harry assumed was the right wall he was feeling decidedly grumpy and definitely hungry. Kyara's roaring laughter had calmed to insistent giggling which was slowly driving him mad. Thinking calming thoughts he was relived when the Tren shut up and grinned at him before placing his hand gently on the wall.

As before it opened smoothly and revealed a large hall only this was unlike any hall Harry had seen before. Organic columns rose smoothly out of the pearlescent floor with colourful lights swimming gently on the surface. Long humps in the ground formed tables at which a multitude of different and strange looking people sat cross legged. At one end of the room there was a huge globe of light pulsing gently. A snake of people wound there way past each putting a hand into the light and removing it with plate attached. Most removed a bowl of what appeared to be steaming porridge but others took platefuls of exotic looking food or fruits Harry had never seen before.

Kyara gently pushed Harry towards the queue and whispered quickly in his ear, "you picture what you'd like as strongly as possible and Morgana should do the rest."

Harry nodded but was slightly worried by the grin Kyara tried to hide. Bracing himself for the worst he moved slowly towards the light. When it was his turn he hesitantly put his hand in and imagined a full cooked breakfast, Hogwarts style. To his surprise and delight it appeared in his hand. He stood there for a moment feeling the reassuring weight in his hand slightly stumped. A loud Hrrmmph from a bear-like man jolted him out of his trance and a nudge from Kyara sent him on his way. Kyara quickly grabbed a bowl of the porridge stuff and led Harry across to the furthest table.

"I must be leaving you here Chosen Harry, I must be sitting with the accepted. These here be your fellow chosen, I hope you be enjoying you breakfast." And with that, and a cheeky grin, he left to set at the table across from them.

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Harry scanned the table in front of him before sitting down towards on side. At one end sat what was obviously a female, a tall graceful female with large quite unnerving eyes. They were a vivid green, not unlike his own, surrounded by golden tendrils of braided hair. Her ears, petite but slightly elongated, peeked through the gilded curtain. Her face sat atop a long willowy neck adorned by an expensive looking medallion… and then Harry very quickly looked up blushing, for the beautiful girl, much like him and Kyara, and indeed most others in the room, was wearing the regulation waistcoat. This wouldn't have been a problem had she had something on underneath, but she was displaying her tattoo proudly along with a lot of skin he really wasn't used to seeing. Not that he minded but he suddenly didn't know what to do with his eyes.

He made the mistake of glancing up at her eyes which immediately met his, holding his gaze there. She looked at him with a half smile, interested, judging him. Harry blushed and looked away, determined to think of something else. There was a snort from someone else at the table and he glanced round to see another of what Harry assumed to be the same species but this time a male.

Mildly annoyed by the snobbish boy he shovelled a spoonful of beans into his mouth only to end up coughing and wondering what on earth he'd just eaten. Staring at the beans he prodded hem experimentally. They looked like beans, they tasted more like … well he wasn't really sure what but it wasn't beans. He heard barking laughter and hunching his shoulders firmly ignored what he knew was Kyara and experimentally speared a sausage. Taking a tentative bite he screwed up his face. It tasted bland with a squishy consistency very like porridge. There was a further snort from the boy at the end of the table and he immediately started to talk to the pretty girl in derisive tones. When the girl laughed back he couldn't help but blush and stare miserably down at his food, poking it angrily.

"Don't worry about it" a high pitched squeak commented. It came from a miniature sky-blue skinned boy in front of him. The boy had no apparent ears and a strange growth of fronds of skin decorating his head like large pale blue leaves. "All the food here tastes the same unfortunately, apparently Morgana can only do nutritious not tasty. She makes it look pretty though, and if you use your imagination you can almost taste the real food." At this the imp like boy paused his rapidly jabbered words to glance longingly at the strange looking fish stew in front of him.

"I can't wait till they let us outside so we can get some real food, even if I have to eat that burnt nonsense the Solan eat." He continued grinning broadly. "Who are you any way, my names Irik, you look even greener than me and I'm blue." With that the boy dissolved into fits of giggles far higher pitched than the grumbling of Kyara.

"My names Harry, I'm a human and I am new, I arrived yesterday," there he paused trying to work out how to be polite, he wasn't used to this there was far too much to look at. It was like starting Hogwarts again.

"Well of course you're a human, it's not like there's not a couple of Humans around here though you are rare. Karin over there says its because your weak but then he's an idiot and thinks anyone who's not Solan shouldn't really be here." He chirped nodding towards the snobbish boy Harry had noticed previously.

Harry paused wondering again how to phrase it but before he could open his mouth Irik burst in once more.

"Oh you want to know what I am, I guess you don't know much at the moment, I've been here a few weeks and picked up a lot of things though its nice to have someone newer than me to tell things to. I'm a Corrin, we come from a different place than the Solan, Lunette and the Tren you came in with. There's also the Nagelet that come from our earth, they're the only other species considered intelligent enough to come from home though we've never seen that much intelligence in them. They spend all their lives out of the sun working away, so very very dull" He added speaking quietly as he nodded towards a thick green skinned giant, with flared webbed ears, bulbous eyes and no apparent nose, sitting across the table from them.

"Is that a Lunette?" Harry asked in a whisper nodding towards the final member of there table, a blonde furred delicately shaped feminine figure with to long flaps of skin looking suspiciously like rabbit ears drawn back into a ponytail. The object of his interest turned to him and bared two very rabbity teeth in a rather scary smile.

"No," Irik managed to get out amid the laughs, "that's a Tren too, they come in all shapes and sizes depending on which cult they follow. Plus they have excellent hearing, especially from that cult, haven't you Lena." He finished addressing the woman far down the table. She nodded and grinned again, far more unnerving than when Kyara smiled despite her lack of pointed teeth.

Harry shook his head and turned to his food in despair, this was going to take a long time to get used to. He really didn't need this right now. Hunching his shoulders he flinched as a hand whacked him over the shoulders.

"Don't worry mate, its not so bad you get used to it fairly quickly. Plus you can introduce me to your Tren guide, he's cute, I really like the stripes…" At this Harry managed to spit out half the squishy sausage goo he was presently eating in shock. Irik was a girl…

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A/N

Thought I'd leave it at that for now. Thanks for reviewing everyone, I really appreciate it, I didn't really think anyone would like this story enough to bother. In response to you all I'll try to update as much as possible but it'll be hard when I'm back at work as things will get fairly hectic. I'm off work at the moment with a random random infection called Labrynthitis, which is apparently an inner ear infection which makes me nice and dizzy and house bound. Will try to write as much as possible to take advantage of it though.

Thanks especially to David305 for the useful hints, I am looking for a beta as I know my spelling and grammar are far from perfect. Anything people feel like pointing out I will try to correct but if you want me to write more its probably easier for me to not go through things myself (as I miss loads anyway) right now. When I need a break I will though.

Hope you enjoy this chapter, anything you particularly want to see in or happen, I know it's early in the story but my ideas are still fairly loose so I may add in some interesting ideas.

Thanks again

Finger Fish


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